{"id":135,"date":"2020-03-30T14:47:02","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T14:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/"},"modified":"2020-03-30T14:47:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T14:47:02","slug":"monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness","status":"publish","type":"watchword","link":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Reflection \u2013 March 30, 2020 Submission Over Stubbornness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Monday Reflection \u2013 March 30, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Submission Over Stubbornness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

When people fall, do they not get up again?\u00a0If they go astray, do they not turn back?<\/em><\/strong>Jeremiah 8:4<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

In Jeremiah 8, the Prophet continues on the same path as chapter 7, announcing the judgement that God will bring against his people. For him, there is\u00a0no cure for the senseless rejection of God by the people of Judah. Having ended chapter 7 declaring that\u00a0the Valley of Hinnom would be filled with rotting corpses, food for scavenging birds, Jeremiah begins chapter 8 noting the utter disgrace that will come upon the people.\u00a0The bones of the kings of Judah\u2026 those of the priests and prophets will be brought out of the graves.\u00a0Even the\u00a0bones\u00a0of the wicked who died before the Babylonians came would be disgraced; they would\u00a0not be gathered nor buried, rather they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. So great will be the misery they face, that the people of Judah will choose death over life, as death will become to them a welcome relief.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

It is the depth of the people\u2019s stubbornness to return to God that Jeremiah highlights in today\u2019s Watchword. Hear God, through the weeping Prophet, describe the people\u2019s condition:\u00a0\u201cWhen people fall, do they not get up again?\u00a0If they go astray, do they not turn back?\u00a0Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? …No man repented of his wickedness\u2026 Everyone turned to his own course\u2026\u201d For Yahweh, it is unbelievable that\u00a0Judah would not return to him. They were caught in\u00a0a perpetual backsliding with no sign of repentance.<\/p>\n\n\n

For God, the people were determined to go their own way, as determined and as energetic as the horse is as it\u00a0rushes into the battle. Birds understand the seasons of the year and how they must respond to them. Yet the people of God were ignorant;\u00a0they were worse off than birds with small brains. Charles Spurgeon noted that the migratory birds know\u00a0when\u00a0to come and go; they know where to go; by some strange instinct, they also know\u00a0the way\u00a0to go; they show their wisdom by\u00a0actually going\u00a0to the sunny land. In contrast, God\u2019s people reject both God and his word and foolishly determine their own path of life.<\/p>\n\n\n

Lest we be quick to judge the people of Judah, let me hasten to remind us that we are no different. We disobey God so often, reject his counsel, purposefully ignore his directives, turn a blind eye to his word, and stubbornly refuse to submit. Instead, we plot our own path, become consumed in and led by our estrogen and testosterone, get driven by our ego, display utter stubbornness, and become mule-headed. I believe that deep in this text is God\u2019s invitation that if we\u00a0return to him, his grace is ever at hand to dispense to us, and he is always ready and willing to return to those who return to him. Hear Jesus in John 6:37: \u201cAnyone who comes to me I will never drive away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

In the midst of the crisis in the world today, may it be a time of reflection and introspection. May we hear God\u2019s clarion call to return to him, confess our sins and submit to him. And as our brother Stuart encouraged me as I visited with him, \u2018Stay close to God\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Jermaine Gibson\u00a0\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When people fall, do they not get up again? If they go astray, do they not turn back? Jeremiah 8:4 In Jeremiah 8, the Prophet continues on the same path as chapter 7, announcing the judgement that God\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","watchword_topic":[13],"class_list":["post-135","watchword","type-watchword","status-publish","hentry","watchword_topic-christian-living"],"yoast_head":"\nMonday Reflection \u2013 March 30, 2020 Submission Over Stubbornness - Covenant Moravian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Monday Reflection \u2013 March 30, 2020 Submission Over Stubbornness - Covenant Moravian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When people fall, do they not get up again? If they go astray, do they not turn back? Jeremiah 8:4 In Jeremiah 8, the Prophet continues on the same path as chapter 7, announcing the judgement that God\u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Covenant Moravian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/covenant.moravian.96\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/index.php\\\/watchword-reflections\\\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/index.php\\\/watchword-reflections\\\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\\\/\",\"name\":\"Monday Reflection \u2013 March 30, 2020 Submission Over Stubbornness - Covenant Moravian\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-30T14:47:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/index.php\\\/watchword-reflections\\\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/index.php\\\/watchword-reflections\\\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/index.php\\\/watchword-reflections\\\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Watchword Reflections\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/index.php\\\/watchword-reflections\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Monday Reflection \u2013 March 30, 2020 Submission Over Stubbornness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"covenantmoravian.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Covenant Moravian\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/logo.png\",\"width\":1317,\"height\":1194,\"caption\":\"Covenant Moravian\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/covenantmoravian.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/covenant.moravian.96\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Monday Reflection \u2013 March 30, 2020 Submission Over Stubbornness - Covenant Moravian","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Monday Reflection \u2013 March 30, 2020 Submission Over Stubbornness - Covenant Moravian","og_description":"When people fall, do they not get up again? If they go astray, do they not turn back? Jeremiah 8:4 In Jeremiah 8, the Prophet continues on the same path as chapter 7, announcing the judgement that God\u2026","og_url":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/","og_site_name":"Covenant Moravian","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/covenant.moravian.96","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/","url":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/","name":"Monday Reflection \u2013 March 30, 2020 Submission Over Stubbornness - Covenant Moravian","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-03-30T14:47:02+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/monday-reflection-march-30-2020-submission-over-stubbornness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Watchword Reflections","item":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/watchword-reflections\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Monday Reflection \u2013 March 30, 2020 Submission Over Stubbornness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/","name":"covenantmoravian.com","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/#organization","name":"Covenant Moravian","url":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/logo.png","width":1317,"height":1194,"caption":"Covenant Moravian"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/covenant.moravian.96"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/watchword\/135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/watchword"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/watchword"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/watchword\/135\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"watchword_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covenantmoravian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/watchword_topic?post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}